The sixth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race began early Wednesday morning off Hong Kong. The teams Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag, AkzoNobel and Brunel crossed the line best under their huge Code Zeros in the generally very cautious start, which was probably due to the experience of two recent early starts in light winds. Just five hours later, the picture had changed somewhat: Although AkzoNobel was still in front on Wednesday morning German time, the leaders of the overall standings had already pulled ahead again: Mapfre was already putting pressure on the rear of the Dutch team. Close behind were Charles Caudrelier's Dongfeng Race Team in a lurking position and Bouwe Bekking's Team Brunel ahead of David Witt's Team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag and Dee Caffari's Turn the Tide on Plastic.
Hong Kong was part of the Volvo Ocean Race as a stage harbour for the first time. On Wednesday, the fleet - without the blue boat from Vestas 11th Hour Racing, which is still in need of repair - left the metropolis on course for Auckland. The video features the skippers' predictions, fears and hopes. There is also a review of the last leg and the harbour races
The American-Danish team Vestas 11th Hour Racing, which is still in third place in the overall standings, had to cancel its start because the blue boat could not be repaired in Hong Kong in time following the collision with a fishing boat in which a Chinese fisherman was killed. The boat and its new bow section, which is being built at Persico Marine in Italy, will be shipped to Auckland, where skipper Charlie Enright and his team will meet up and, following successful repairs, will return to the race. Team Vestas 11th Hour Racing and the organisers of the Volvo Ocean Race have yet to provide a detailed analysis and explanation of the serious accident on 20 January.
In sporting terms, the cards were clearly distributed before the sixth stage, on which the half-time bell of the race will soon ring: The Spanish team Mapfre (34 points) wants to defend its overall lead, the Dongfeng Race Team (30 points) wants to successfully attack its former training partner. In the absence of Vestas (23 points), both fourth-placed Team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag (20 points) and Team Brunel could claim a podium place in the interim standings with an outstanding performance. To do so, however, Bekking's team in particular would have to solve its speed problems on downwind courses of 18 or 19 knots of wind. The Dutch skipper, who lived in Hamburg for several years and is now at home in Denmark, has made one recent change: Brunel is sailing the leg as the only team with just eight people, seven men and the American match race expert Sally Barkow. According to Bekking, what already proved to be a success factor in the battle for second place in the last harbour race in terms of crew weight should now also work on the long haul to Auckland. While boat captain Abby Ehler is taking a break at home in England, sailing coordinator Annie Lush was not fit in time for the start after her serious crash on leg 4, but was on duty as co-commentator at the start. She is due to return from Auckland. There were only three crew changes in total for this stage - all in the Dongfeng Race Team: navigator Pascal Bidégory replaces his prominent replacement Franck Cammas after his recovery. Also back on board is multiple Nacra17 world champion Marie Riou, who had been replaced by Justine Mettraux in favour of a recovery period. Liu Xue also comes in for Chen Jin Hao. It seems that most of the teams have come closer to their ideal constellations.
After leg 4, Bouwe Bekking emphasised the speed problems of the yellow boat as one of the reasons for the Dutch team's rather disappointing position in the 13th Volvo Ocean Race so far. Leg 6 from Hong Kong to Auckland will show whether the team has managed to close this gap in recent weeks
For the sixth-placed Dutch team AkzoNobel, which has recently regained its strength after many crises, the aim is to add as many points as possible to its tally of just 15 so far in order not to completely lose touch with the leading boats. Dee Caffari, with her young and comparatively inexperienced mixed team and the red lantern of the tail light in the stern, wants to act more forcefully than before.
The upcoming leg is one of the most challenging in the race around the globe. Mapfree's skipper Xabi Fernandez said: "Once again we have a very long leg ahead of us with around 6000 nautical miles. And it will bring us pretty much the opposite of what we experienced on the course from Australia to Hong Kong." Charles Caudrelier explained: "For me, the next leg is the most difficult, the most complicated and the most dangerous." The Frenchman, who co-won the eleventh edition of the ocean marathon on the French "Groupama" alongside Franck Cammas and sailed to third place as a newcomer in the last edition - his first as skipper - had this to say: "A great opportunity to gain decisive tactical advantages awaits in the area between the Philippines and Taiwan. Big decisions have to be made there. Because that's where the important question of how you want to get through the Doldrums arises."
"We've already experienced how tough the area can be on the way here," said Turn-the-Tide-on-Plastic skipper Dee Caffari before the start, "now we're going to experience it the other way round. And it's mostly downwind, which makes this leg different from all the others. We have a very tough first few days ahead of us. None of us have sailed much downwind yet. It should be interesting." All the skippers agree that the final days of the leg on course for Auckland are likely to see fantastic sailing conditions. It remains to be seen who will enjoy them the most at the top. The fleet is expected to arrive in the "City of Sails" Auckland, the new old home of the America's Cup, in the last week of February.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
